Todd Wilhelm: Thomas Chantry Has Been Convicted on All 4 Counts of Felony Child Molestation!


Tom Chantry

“Don’t turn your face away.
Once you’ve seen, you can no longer act like you don’t know.
Open your eyes to the truth. It’s all around you.
Don’t deny what the eyes to your soul have revealed to you.

Now that you know, you cannot feign ignorance.
Now that you’re aware of the problem, you cannot pretend you don’t care.
To be concerned is to be human.
To act is to care.”
― Vashti Quiroz-Vega


There are many of you who have been readers at TWW since I started following Tom Chantry’s arrest and being charged with the abuse, physical and sexual, of minors in church. Some of you will remember when some strange individual attempted to cause trouble for both my husband and me by sending letters trying to get me excommunicated from my Lutheran church for writing about Tom Chantry and Iain Campbell’s list of offenses. I believe that Campbell was thrown into the mix in order to cover for the fact that this individual (who pretended he was a team of people) was a fan of Tom Chantry.

Here is link to all the stories I’ve written about Tom Chantry.

Here is the letter that was written about me almost two years ago.

Oh, and I almost forgot, there was also the curious case of Frank Turk and Pyromaniacs calling me foul names, due to my coverage of Tom Chantry.I wonder how he’s felling today. I hope one day he will apologize.

Todd Wilhelm has faithfully covered Chantry’s recent trial in Arizona. He also covered the previous trial  last year: Finally, Thomas Chantry Found Guilty on 2 Counts Aggravated Assault. Retrial Likely on 4 Other Counts and a New Victim May Appear. These were felony convictions involving physical abuse. The jury was hung by one individual on the 4 counts of felony child molestation. Susan Eazer, the prosecutor, vowed to retry on those 4 counts and today, she did just that! He was convicted on all 4 counts of felony child molestation. There is also another trial pending on 9 counts of molestation/abuse of a child.

The jury is currently deliberating whether there were aggravating circumstances in order to proceed to sentencing. Ms. Eazer has alleged that emotional harm has been done to one of the victims. If found guilty, each count has a maximum of 17 years in prison.

My hat’s off to Todd Wilhelm for his commitment to seeing this trial through to the end. Here is a link to his blog, Thou Art the Man, where you can follow his frequent updates.

Please join Todd and me in praying for the victims and their families. They have suffered with these memories for years. I suggest that ARBCA, Chantry’s denomination, reach out to thee families and offer them financial assistance to deal with the pain Chantry inflicted on them. If any readers feel so moved, perhaps they might send emails to the denomination suggesting they assist the families.

Of course, there will be the constant critics that will say we are rejoicing over this verdict. Todd and I have been following the arrest and trials of Chantry for over 2 1/2 years. Those of us who do this sort of thing spend many hours pouring over the allegations while our stomachs turn as we read the descriptions of the abuse that took place. We talk with one another, dealing with our anger and praying for the victims and their families.

We worry over the pretrial motions and the testimonies during the trials. Our hearts sank at the hung jury from the last trial, hoping that the victims would be willing to go through the pain and suffering of a trial once again.

We wonder at churches that allegedly concealed some of these reports. How can they do that, knowing that children were harmed?  We get criticized by the fan club and attacked, sometimes viciously, by supposed Christians who accuse us of all sorts of sins and crimes for covering the allegations and trials. The constant cry of “Slander” by uninformed and misled church members is deeply disappointing.

However, we carry on because someone has got to care about the abused. Someone must read the descriptions of abuse and someone must pray for justice and peace for the victims. Thankfully, the readers of this blog and a slowly growing number of people in churches are beginning to get it.

Thanks go out from TWW to Susan Eazer who has fought for victims, sometimes against difficult adversaries. Extra special thanks go out to Todd Wilhelm who spent countless days being present for these trials, spending one too many nights in hotels. And thanks be to God that justice was served in the state of Arizona today.

Comments

Todd Wilhelm: Thomas Chantry Has Been Convicted on All 4 Counts of Felony Child Molestation! — 58 Comments

  1. Like you, I have been nervously awaiting the outcome of this trial. What a travesty for the victims who went through the painful process of reliving all this twice, were they to be disbelieved by the jury. Like you, I do not rejoice in the evil done, or the genuine suffering of the victims; but I hope that it will help the victims to know that their bravery in speaking up was not in vain. They have put a stop to this abuser’s wickedness. May they continue to heal and be made whole. Thanks to all who saw the pursuit of justice through to the end.

  2. It’s such a relief to know this man will go to jail to reflect on the crimes he committed. It can’t undo what he has done to the victims, but I hope they gain some semblance of peace from it. I hope they know that many of us believed them from the beginning.

    A friend of mine and I have been following Chantry’s arrests and trials all along, each not just too see justice done, but because we both have some personal connection to Chantry. I had been warned by a family member about Chantry twenty years ago. She called him an “evil man”.

    I pray he will put in jail for a long time. I also pray that those who had protected him wise up and stop protecting predators.

  3. Thanks to @Dee and @Todd Wilhelm for your years of coverage on this situation and analysis of the wider system it has been set in. You’ve contributed an important case study for survivors and advocates!

    Thanks also to Ms Eazer for her tenacious advocacy in all those proceedings.

    Praying that this moment of justice will bring a measure of relief and healing to those who’ve been harmed directly and indirectly by these abuses.

  4. I am reminded of what Rachel Denhollander said in her impact statement to Larry Nassar:

    “If the Bible you carry says it is better for a stone to be thrown around your neck and you throw into a lake than for you to make even one child stumble. And you have damaged hundreds.
    The Bible you speak carries a final judgment where all of God’s wrath and eternal terror is poured out on men like you. Should you ever reach the point of truly facing what you have done, the guilt will be crushing. And that is what makes the gospel of Christ so sweet. Because it extends grace and hope and mercy where none should be found. And it will be there for you.
    I pray you experience the soul crushing weight of guilt so you may someday experience true repentance and true forgiveness from God, which you need far more than forgiveness from me — though I extend that to you as well.”

  5. If I have to take some abuse by being accused of “enjoying this stuff”, or some other BS, so be it! It is about time there is a place like TWW that is looking out for the victims, demanding justice, and shining bright lights on this depraved stuff..
    Further, I fundamentally disagree with the people saying this blog, and the general concept of exposing this depraved “stuff” “ hurts the “cause of Christ”. I think it does just the opposite, I have a number of colleagues that are “turned off” by organized religion EXACTLY because of this corruption and coverups!

  6. I told you all that Sue Eazer was a firebreather and the worst enemy of child abusers. Like I said last year, she’s someone I once knew, or at least watched in action a number of times (I clerked for a judge who presided over one of her trials, and I’ll never forget how she told that judge off in his chambers when she thought he’d been flippant with her case, all 5 foot nothing of her, and left him shaken). You don’t mess with Sue. She’s left millions on the table to pursue a career as a prosecutor. Thank the Lord for people who love justice more than money.

  7. Law Prof: You don’t mess with Sue. She’s left millions on the table to pursue a career as a prosecutor. Thank the Lord for people who love justice more than money.

    Amen to that. Susan has a real heart for the victims of abuse. She cares deeply. She is overworked and underpaid but in spite of that she soldiers on. I believe she has been a prosecutor for 28 years now, so my deepest gratitude goes out to her.

    My thanks to the true heroes of this story, and that is the victims. They have taken the witness stand twice now. It takes great courage to do so. Telling their stories is no easy task. I hope what they have done emboldens others to speak out. I hope their lives, shattered by the twisted actions of Tom Chantry, can find some semblance of normalcy now. I pray their family relationships can be restored.

    Regardless of the verdict today I was prepared to say what Abraham said:
    “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Gen. 18:25 NIV
    But thanks to God for allowing me to see justice in this life applied to one of the most evil men I have known.

  8. The pending trial on the nine counts of molestation, are these to have occurred at the same church as the other four victims? Or are these to have occurred at a different church he was posted at?

  9. Brian: The pending trial on the nine counts of molestation, are these to have occurred at the same church as the other four victims?

    The same church. Chantry is charged with 4 counts of molestation of a child, 4 counts of assault and 1 count of child abuse.

  10. Brian: The other church entities in the other States he worked at, are the civil authorities in those States looking into Tom Chantry?

    Not to my knowledge, but I wouldn’t be made aware of investigations.

    I have been told by a trusted source that there are more victims out there. That is not shocking. Pedophiles never stop molesting children.

  11. Thank you, Dee and Todd, for keeping this monster on the radar.

    I’m relieved to hear that this jury was honest and not hung by a rogue member, like the first. Those first eleven honest jurors are vindicated, as well.

    My hope is that all of Chantry’s victims find satisfaction in this justice.

  12. Oh, and I almost forgot, there was also the curious case of Frank Turk and Pyromaniacs calling me foul names, due to my coverage of Tom Chantry.I wonder how he’s felling today. I hope one day he will apologize.

    Why should they apologize when They Can Do No Wrong?

    I’m waiting for the “PERSECUTION!!!!!!!!” card to play off the bottom of the deck….

  13. Headless Unicorn Guy: I’m waiting for the “PERSECUTION!!!!!!!!” card to play off the bottom of the deck….

    Well, this new defense lawyer got smart and wouldn’t let Chantry take the stand…

  14. Headless Unicorn Guy: the “PERSECUTION!!!!!!!!” card

    Or the selective prosecution card, like “if they’re coming after me, they should go after Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein first (oops).”

  15. Todd Wilhelm,

    The parents of the victims, how were they groomed?

    If he was tutoring more than one kid, did the victims parents know each other through the tutoring?

    Were they taught by the ARBCA denomination not to question pastors?

    From your research, the parents saw the abnormal behavior in their kids. I’m wondering if they tried looking into it but was stonewalled? Or were they groomed not to question it?

    From my experience as a child, molesters can maintain secrecy of the level and type of abuse between family members under the same roof.

  16. If it takes a village to raise a child, it also takes a village to abuse a child: a point made on screen in the movie “Spotlight” and undoubtedly made in real life by the people depicted therein.

    But it takes a special kind of person to stand out and bring the abuse to light, and thence, the abusers to justice. Wartburg wishes Dee a fabulous fortnight as she goes on sabbatical for a season.

  17. Todd Wilhelm: I have been told by a trusted source that there are more victims out there. That is not shocking. Pedophiles never stop molesting children.

    I wonder if the publicity might bring them forward. I also wonder if the victims might have a potential cilvil lawsuit on their hands…

  18. dee: Wish I was coming to your neck of the woods!

    So do I!

    We’ve been expanding our cooking repertoire and it would be a great privilege to entertain you and yours to dinner some day… my roast veg with cajun seasoning and lime has a taste-to-calories ratio of almost infinity!

  19. Nick Bulbeck: my roast veg with cajun seasoning and lime has a taste-to-calories ratio of almost infinity!

    That sounds splendid! Didn’t there used to be a recipe place on this blog at one time? I can’t seem to find it – I could be misremembering. But this sounds like a recipe I’d like to try!

  20. roebuck: Didn’t there used to be a recipe place on this blog at one time?

    There is: along the top menu, select Interesting/Cooking.

    But while I’m here: chop up some cauliflower and broccoli into slightly small pieces (there’s no right/wrong way to do this: keep trying until you find a size you like) and add a red onion, cut into surprisingly big pieces. Brush with cooking oil and lots of cajun seasoning, and plenty of salt. Then give it 35 minutes on a medium/low oven – I use 140 fan.

    The crucial point: squeeze a lime over it before you serve it. The lime juice balances out the salt and complements the cajun seasoning. You’ll never boil cauliflower or broccoli ever again.

  21. Fascinating…not one of the *Dee is slanderous and libelous for covering the Chantry arrest and trial* have shown up to apologize for their mistreatment of Todd, Janna and me. They’ve probably crawled back into their holes, waiting for the next opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of the love of Christ.

    Some of those ARBCA people remind me of the Westboro Baptist crowd.

  22. Nick Bulbeck: There is: along the top menu, select Interesting/Cooking.

    But while I’m here: chop up some cauliflower and broccoli into slightly small pieces (there’s no right/wrong way to do this: keep trying until you find a size you like) and add a red onion, cut into surprisingly big pieces. Brush with cooking oil and lots of cajun seasoning, and plenty of salt. Then give it 35 minutes on a medium/low oven – I use 140 fan.

    The crucial point: squeeze a lime over it before you serve it. The lime juice balances out the salt and complements the cajun seasoning. You’ll never boil cauliflower or broccoli ever again.

    Thanks Nick!

    I’ll try this at first opportunity. And thanks for the pointer to the cooking section. I was looking in the side bar…

  23. Given the aggravating factors in this case, I would not be surprised if he is sentenced to serve 10 to 15 years for each count. Given his age, he may very well die in prison of old age or be released a very old man.

    Then there is other sobering thought: Child molesters are considered to be scum of the earth, the very bottom of the pyramid by the other convicts. For the entire duration of his time, he will have to be on guard, as he will be constantly targeted for assault, rape, and for death. If a skinhead or Aryan Nations convict wants to improve his prison cred, Tom will be the recipient of a shank to the kidneys.

  24. ___

    “Flagrant Delayed Disclosure, Perhaps?”

    hmmm…

    “Over the past 20 years, many of the top leaders in ARBCA have been complicit in the illegal and deceitful cover-up of Tom Chantry’s felonious assaults upon children. “ -Bret Detweiler

    Names are being named,

    Justice is coming…

    Q. Will not the Shepherds of Jesus’ flock do right?

    (sadface)

    Sòpy

    – –

  25. CM,

    Yes- Chantry will not be going to a country club prison. What goes around comes around and child molesters are not respected amongst the prison population. It appears that even felons have standards. This is something that anyone who decides to molest a child should think about.

  26. ishy: A friend of mine and I have been following Chantry’s arrests and trials all along, each not just too see justice done, but because we both have some personal connection to Chantry. I had been warned by a family member about Chantry twenty years ago. She called him an “evil man”.

    Twenty years ago, it was already known that he was an evil man, yet he was provided with protection and a place to prey on innocent, defenseless children for another 20 years, on top of all the years he’d already been handed on a silver platter. In the name of Christ this was done!! There are quite a few more who ought to be going to prison right along with him, in my opinion.

    And He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a robbers’ den.”

    A pedophile is the worst sort of robber.

  27. SiteSeer,

    Ishy, I didn’t mean to imply that your relative bore any responsibility. I am talking about those in positions of authority who knew what Chantry was up to, who kept it silenced and covered up.

  28. SiteSeer,

    Once the civil suits and criminal charges start against ARBCA (like conspiracy), many of these enablers will go down. Think of the Catholic Church abuse scandal.

    ARBCA and a number of their churches may very well be bankrupted just like a number of Catholic dioceses.

    And God help them (and the Catholic Church, the SBC) if both the state and federal authorities use the RICO laws against these conspirators of abuse.

    Case in point. Taking a minor across state lines for immoral purposes, etc. is a Federal Mann Act violation and can be charged under the RICO statutes.

  29. Nick Bulbeck,

    “…some cauliflower and broccoli into slightly small pieces …a red onion, …Brush with cooking oil and lots of cajun seasoning, and plenty of salt. Then give it 35 minutes on a medium/low oven – I use 140 fan.”
    ++++++++++++++++++++

    do you cover it with a lid or with foil?

  30. CM,

    My nephew spent one year of a four year sentence on possession of stolen property in a Colorado State prison. I asked him what happened to pedophiles in prison. He said, to buy protection for themselves, they would run drugs in prison to actually having family send money somehow to the prison to pay for it. Otherwise, they don’t survive.

    I’m not wishing this on Tom Chantry. This is just the possible consequences of his actions.

  31. elastigirl: do you cover it with a lid or with foil?

    No; no need to if you use enough oil to make sure all the veg is properly coated (though not so much it’s too oily). But, of course, the fun is in trying it out and seeing what you like. All the ingredients can safely be eaten raw, after all, so you can’t really go wrong.

  32. dee: Yes- Chantry will not be going to a country club prison. What goes around comes around and child molesters are not respected amongst the prison population. It appears that even felons have standards. This is something that anyone who decides to molest a child should think about.

    And it appears their standards are higher than those of God’s Predestined Elect, which is a depressing thought.

  33. dee,

    I’m sure that somewhere in the recesses of his supporter’s minds there is a tape playing on a loop: “Just because he was convicted doesn’t mean he is guilty…” or some other such nonsense. They probably view this as a miscarriage of justice and the “godly” suffering persecution by the big bad mean ol’ blogger people.

    I hope the verdict helps the children. A little, at least.

  34. Brian:
    CM,

    My nephew spent one year of a four year sentence on possession of stolen property in a Colorado State prison. I asked him what happened to pedophiles in prison. He said, to buy protection for themselves, they would run drugs in prison to actually having family send money somehow to the prison to pay for it. Otherwise, they don’t survive.

    I’m not wishing this on Tom Chantry. This is just the possible consequences of his actions.

    To paraphrase local afternoon drive-time,
    “The convicts have a better sense of sin and justice than the MenaGAWD.”

  35. CM: Case in point. Taking a minor across state lines for immoral purposes, etc. is a Federal Mann Act violation and can be charged under the RICO statutes.

    That’s what Polishing-the-Shaft Schaap got nailed for.
    As did the guy who wrote the Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible.

  36. __

    Brian,

    Not to worry, Tom Chantry, AKA a heavily documented convicted, but not yet sentenced 501c3 perpetual announced exposed pedophile proverbial dark gangly spider-like preacher will do just fine in prison.

    …Loxosceles Arizonica usually do.

    – –

  37. dee,

    So basically our hope is that the church world will eventually rise to the standards of prison populations regarding child molesters.

  38. ishy,

    It would be interesting if your relative could give a specific, detailed list of what caused her to definitively declare him an evil man. She was clearly correct. I’d love to learn how much was her gut and how much was from behaviors and attitudes. We need more with her clear discernment and backbone to speak up.

  39. Was Tom Chantry’s father-in-law aware that he was molesting children before he was arrested?

    From some of the documentation Todd Wilhelm provided in his blog, Chantry’s father-in-law inserted himself everywhere in the process. If the answer is yes, how long was he covering for Tom?

    Of Chantry’s children, were any of them molested or abused?

    Has Chantry’s wife spoken out regarding the charges and the conviction?

  40. Sòpwith: Q. How do we know there aren’t more pedophiles being harbored within ARBCA churches?

    I can’t say whether there are or not but my mind asks, why else would they have offered him so much protection? And where did he learn this behavior? Was he the recipient of such when he was a child? One has to wonder.

  41. Noevangelical: I’m sure that somewhere in the recesses of his supporter’s minds there is a tape playing on a loop: “Just because he was convicted doesn’t mean he is guilty…” or some other such nonsense. They probably view this as a miscarriage of justice and the “godly” suffering persecution by the big bad mean ol’ blogger people.

    It takes a lot of determination to remain ignorant against all the odds as time goes by. Those who knew him will begin to realize that it makes sense, as, little by little, things come back to mind from the past. Only those with a need to believe he is innocent will be able to maintain that over time. Like Dottie Sandusky, they will become further and further out of touch with reality.

  42. SiteSeer and others,

    One possible reason why they offered Chantry so much protection and defended him is that Chantry knows were the bodies are buried in ARBCA. That is my theory as to why the TGC covered for Mahaney so long. That and a briefcase full of money are great incentives.

    This may be the reason why Jerry Falwall, Jr. and Pastor Jeffries are such staunch ball washers for Trump.

  43. Brian: The other church entities in the other States he worked at, are the civil authorities in those States looking into Tom Chantry?

    Tom Chantry chronology:

    PENNSYLVANIA – grew up at, and returned briefly at some point as intern under his father Walt Chantry who was longtime pastor of flagship Reformed Baptist church Grace Baptist of Carlisle, Pa. (also where ARBCA is headquartered)
    SOUTH CAROLINA – attended and graduated from Furman University
    CALIFORNIA – attended and graduated from Westminster Seminary
    ARIZONA – pastor of Miller Valley Baptist Church (Prescott), beat children (and more, though the molestation was not divulged at the time) while catechizing, tutoring, and babysitting; fled to the Phoenix area where at several meetings at Sovereign Grace Bible Church and Phoenix Reformed Baptist Church an informal council dispatched by ARBCA succeeded in papering over the matter for the time.
    WASHINGTON STATE – underwent a quick ‘restoration’ directed by ARBCA pastor Don Lindblad
    ILLINOIS – teacher at Christian Liberty Academy run largely by his sister’s in-laws, police report for excessive spanking, parents decided not to press charges, married to daughter of ARBCA pastor in Rockford
    WISCONSIN – reentered the pastorate at church plant Christ Reformed Baptist of Hales Corners, also a Cub Scout den leader for a time.

    As well, he traveled to various states attending and working the Reformed Baptist conference circuit (those of the Banner of Truth and the Founders faction of Southern Baptists, as well as the Reformed Baptist Family Conference (annual week-long family camp sponsored by the Carlisle church that drew Reformed Baptists far and wide).

    A troubling comment at the Sharper Iron site (scroll down):

    https://sharperiron.org/filings/121016/32689

    G.N. Barkman: “I met him several years ago when he ran a youth program at a Reformed Baptist Family Camp in New Jersey, sponsored by his father’s church in Carlisle, PA.”

  44. I think it’s important to know that none of the victims of Tom Chantry have ever expressed any intention to file a civil suit, and in fact, I doubt any will. All they have ever wanted was closure. Financial gain has never been their motivation.

  45. Latest development from Thou Art The Man:
    Pulpit & Pen has rallied to defend Thomas Chantry.
    Does this really surprise anyone?

  46. Deborah:
    dee,

    So basically our hope is that the church world will eventually rise to the standards of prison populations regarding child molesters.

    In one word: YES.
    In the church world nowadays, it’s become a de facto Privilege of Pastoral Rank.
    “TOUCH NOT MINE ANOINTED!”, “DEUS VULT!”, and all that.

    (Someone remind me why 500 years ago, the ancestors of these jokers started their Reformation(TM)?)

  47. Jerome: G.N. Barkman: “I met him several years ago when he ran a youth program at a Reformed Baptist Family Camp in New Jersey, sponsored by his father’s church in Carlisle, PA.”

    I’ve been to Carlisle!
    Not to that church or “Family Camp”, but to the Army historical museum by the Interstate.
    One of my writing partners lives in that general area.

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